Emerson Climate Technologies, a division of Emerson Company, says it had a record year in 2004 within the Middle East and Africa region, and expects to capitalise further on the fast-expanding construction sector as a leader in the development of energy-efficient solutions for the air-conditioning industry.

Construction in the GCC states is at almost unprecedented levels and with more exciting projects being announced, such as the Dubai Waterfront projects, and the Burj Dubai, the construction sector is set to grow, an Emerson spokesman said.
“Indeed in Dubai alone, with expectations that the population will expand to two million by 2012, it is estimated that an additional 50,000 residences per year are required to accommodate such growth. Couple this with the general demographics of the region, where the average population comprises 40 per cent of minors, and the fact that oil prices are unlikely to drop below $40 per barrel in the immediate future, then the outlook for the industry as a whole is very positive.”
Which is good news for Emerson Climate Technologies. “As the population grows and the number of dwellings increases proportionately, there will of course be an increase in demand for electricity. At Emerson we lead the field in the development of energy-efficient solutions for the air conditioning industry,” the spokesman commented.
Back in 2003, Emerson Climate Technologies commenced the assembly of semi-hermetic and hermetic condensing units for the refrigeration industry in Jebel Ali, Dubai, as a first initiative from an operations perspective, and in 2004, that commitment was further evident when the distribution centre was opened to provide OEM and wholesale customers alike off-the-shelf access to Alco /flow controls, White Rodgers thermostats and thermodisc products.
Globally, Emerson Climate Technologies is the preferred partner for compressors and controls to multi-national companies such as Carrier, Trane, Lennox, IR, Gree, Samsung, and Rheem.  Within the region, Emerson Climate Technologies is proud to be associated with Zamil A/C, which is itself a recognised international manufacturer, and other key regional OEMs such as Carrier, Trane, SKM, Petra, Risco, Al Hasawi, Awal Gulf, Hace and Unionaire. 
“Our new central AC technology - Copeland Digital Scroll™ - enables the design of a reliable, energy-saving and simple AC system. Digital Scroll technology provides value to you, regardless of whether you are an air-con manufacturer, engineer, architect, designer, wholesaler, installer, or an end-user”, says Gordon Flaherty, director, air-conditioning, Emerson Climate Technologies, Middle East and Africa.
“The beauty of this technology is its inherent simplicity,” he says. “The standard Copeland scroll has a unique feature called axial compliance. This allows the fixed scroll to move in the axial direction, by very small amounts, to ensure that the fixed and orbiting scrolls are always loaded together with the optimal force. This optimal force holding the two scrolls together at all operating conditions ensures the high efficiency of Copeland scrolls. The Digital Scroll operation builds on this principle.
 “Copeland’s Digital Scroll operating capacity range of 10 per cent to 100 per cent is the widest in the industry. The broad capacity range ensures fewer compressor start-stops and increases the efficiency of the system. Moreover, it can achieve a continuous spectrum of capacity output, ensuring a very tight control on room temperature. This is an improvement over the fixed speed system and inverter technology, which can only adjust capacity outputs in steps. Start-stop of the compressor in a fixed-speed system consumes more energy while a wide-capacity output Digital Scroll contributes to the high seasonal energy efficiency ratio (Seer).”
 For modulated systems, Seer is the standard measure of energy saving from running the system year-round. Copeland’s Digital Scroll has been evaluated as per the JIS & ARI standard and shows excellent Seer as it can reduce annual energy consumption by as much as 40 per cent, said Flaherty.
 The Digital Scroll motor runs at a constant speed throughout the operating range, unlike the variable speed compressor technology. Due to this design, there is negligible electromagnetic interference. This unique feature eliminates the need for expensive electromagnetic suppression electronics required to ensure electromagnetic compatibility, he explained.
“The Digital Scroll possesses excellent dehumidification capability across the entire range of operation as it operates at lower evaporating temperatures as compared to existing modulation technology. Even at very low capacity operation, Copeland Digital Scroll is able to deliver a comfortable relative humidity.”
 Flaherty pointed out that Copeland’s Digital Scroll package did not have any bypasses, but had simple electronics to control and increase the reliability of the modulation system. “Copeland’s digital package is truly a ‘Plug-and-Play’ compressor system as it comes with a full set of electronic controls - outdoor, indoor, and remote controls that are required for an air conditioning system,” he said.
 Added Flaherty: “Quick pull down of room temperature and quick adjustment to demands are essential for customer comfort. Because Digital scroll can transition from 100 per cent capacity to 10 per cent capacity or vice versa instantaneously by changing the loaded and unloaded cycle time, it can react to the changes in the system demand much faster.”
 Although high-efficiency products are readily available, one of the challenges the industry faces is the preference amongst the consumer, within the region, of low first-cost products over the long-term cost effectiveness of high efficiency systems.
“In the absence on any responsible authority within the GCC intent on introducing legislation on minimum efficiency requirements for air conditioning systems, at Emerson Climate Technologies our future marketing activities will aim to develop awareness amongst end users of the benefits in respect of comfort control, running cost and reliability of high-efficiency products,” the company’s spokesman said.
Emerson Company, founded in 1889, is a well-respected company featuring in the top 50 of Fortune 500.  Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Emerson is a $15-billion company employing over 100,000 people worldwide.  It has over 60 separate divisions selling high-quality products, systems and services for commercial, industrial and consumer markets in over 150 countries worldwide.
 In line with Emerson’s strategy to enhance service locally within the region, Emerson Climate Technologies headquarters for the Middle East and Africa is based in Dubai, UAE. The office was originally opened in 1989, as a sales office for Copeland. In  2000, the office expanded its responsibilities and assumed the task of growing the Controls Division, Alco, within the region, which extends from the GCC to Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and most of the African continent.
 In 2002, the Emerson Climate Technologies concept was introduced, uniting 13 Emerson divisions under a single brand to serve customers worldwide in heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration industries.  Executive vice-president and business leader of the new Group, Tom Bettcher, says: “By bringing together products, services and expertise from across our individual businesses, we are creating a single worldwide resource for the climate control needs of our customers that is more capable of supporting their success than if any one Emerson business or brand was alone.”